TIL that a loose ground wire in a Cessna 172 can make the whole avionics suite go haywire

I was troubleshooting a random radio dropout on a 172 at our shop in Bakersfield last week, turned out the ground strap behind the panel was barely making contact. Has anyone else spent hours chasing gremlins only to find it was a simple ground issue?

2 comments

2 Comments

grayt4618d ago

Yeah, "ground strap barely making contact" is exactly the kind of thing that'll drive you nuts. I was reading an old A&P forum thread a while back where a guy was chasing a radio that would cut out only when the plane hit a certain RPM. Everyone was chasing fuel or ignition issues and it turned out to be a loose ground screw on the radio tray that would vibrate loose right around that power setting. Grounds are the cheapest and most overlooked fix in avionics, but they'll waste a whole day of your time if you don't check them first.

derekp7018d ago

Man that's wild, it's the same with car stereos too. I've seen people swap out whole head units and speakers and the problem was just a crusty ground point that needed a wire brush and a new screw. It's like the universe's way of reminding you to check the simple stuff first before you go tearing everything apart.